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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24568090">Picking up the Pieces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiedyedTrickster/pseuds/TiedyedTrickster'>TiedyedTrickster</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>...this is a really hard AU to tag for..., Gen, Healing, Oh the Humanity AU, Snatcher getting reminded that being human doesn't have to mean being helpless, Sort Of, Umbrellas, in a good way, originally submitted to doodledrawsthings on tumblr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:35:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24568090</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiedyedTrickster/pseuds/TiedyedTrickster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A follow-up to <a href="https://doodledrawsthings.tumblr.com/post/617612649325314048/please-do-yourselves-a-favor-and-read-this-little">this comic</a> and all the other wonderful variations other artists have created about that scene!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hat Kid &amp; Snatcher (A Hat in Time)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Picking up the Pieces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I don’t think he’d hate you, you know.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“The Prince – old you,” Hat Kid clarifies, kicking her legs where she’s sitting on the diving board to the pillow pool, “I don’t think he’d hate you. Probably not be <em>thrilled</em> about your unlife choices, but I don’t think he’d hate you. And I don’t think you hate him as much as you think you do.”</p><p>“Oh?” that was enough to get Snatcher to push himself upright, a jolt of pain reminding him that he really should be more careful with his injured hand, “And how <em>exactly</em> did you come to that conclusion, kiddo?”</p><p>“‘cause I just don’t. And ‘cause you’re still more like him than you think.”</p><p>And <em>those</em> are fighting words-! “Excuse <em>you</em>, I am <em>nothing </em>like that- that- weak, pitiful excuse for a-!”</p><p>“Sure you are,” she counters, as casually unafraid of him as ever, the annoying little twerp, “‘cause if you weren’t <em>anything</em> like him, then you’d be blaming <em>Vanessa</em> instead of <em>him</em> for everything that went wrong. Like, yeah, he made some bad choices, but he’s not the one who made her do all those awful things to him. And I mean, like, <em>look at </em>you! He was like, what, twelve when all this happened? Poor kid!”</p><p>“I don’t want to hear that from someone who is still <em>actually</em> a kid!”</p><p>“Details,” she waves a dismissive hand at him, “And anyway, you learned from it – you got to know me <em>plenty</em> before you finally broke down and agreed to be more than just my contractually-obligated BFF! Which means you forgave me for kicking your noodly butt! So…” she pauses and frowns. “I’m not sure where I was going with that, I distracted myself. The point is, at the very least maybe it’s time to stop blaming yourself for what happened. You did your best.”</p><p>“And look where that got me!” he snaps back as the room starts to vibrate for some reason, “You’ve <em>been</em> to the mansion, you <em>know</em> what happened, and I couldn’t stop it then, and I couldn’t do anything but keep her away as a ghost, and now I-” he stops, because he can’t say it, it’s one thing to <em>know</em> how helpless and pathetic he is, but to say it- admit it- he <em>can’t</em>-</p><p>Hat Kid frowns at him, then hops off the diving board to do a perfect dive into the pillows, surfacing near him to take his hand. “Snatcher? Snatcher, you’re shaking, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” she cuts herself off with an expression of dawning comprehension. “Hey, Snatcher!”</p><p>“<em>What</em>?” he growls, not nearly as menacingly as he <em>should</em> be able to since he’s in this pathetic human body again.</p><p>“Wanna learn how to fight?”</p><p>Well… <em>that’s</em> not what he was expecting. “What?!”</p><p>“Fight!” she repeats excitedly, bouncing a little in the pillows, “I got my umbrella in Mafia Town, and we found one for Bow, too, so I bet we could get one that’s big enough for you, and then I’ll show you how to use it right! And then if something bad happens, you can defend yourself, and we could ask Moonjumper to make you some badges, and- Snatcher? Do you not want to, you don’t <em>have</em> to, I just thought…?”</p><p>Abruptly he realizes that her look of concern is probably connected to the burning-yet-wet sensation in his eyes and, oh, yes, tears, again, goody. …they don’t feel as- as <em>ugly</em> or helpless as they have before though. The thought of running around waving an umbrella should be ridiculous, only… she’s right, she <em>had</em> beaten him, at his full power, and she’d used her umbrella to help her do it. And, yes, naturally she’s an alien and it probably won’t work quite the same for him as it does for her, but…</p><p>He <em>likes</em> the idea of not being helpless. And if he’d had something, anything to defend himself from the guards with back then, maybe, just maybe…</p><p>“Nah, kid, that sounds… good. Might as well give it a try, not like I have anything better to do.”</p><p>“Great!” she beams, then drags him down to flop in the pillows with her, “Okay, first lesson of fighting – getting a good night’s sleep! You can’t fight right if you’re too sleepy, trust me on this one.”</p><p>“Uh-huh,” he gives her a bemused look and gets a surprisingly serious one in return.</p><p>“No, really, trust me on this one, and also don’t ask Bow about it, ‘cause she’ll tell you a bunch of stuff that absolutely isn’t true and also sounds really bad out of context-”</p><p>He snorts, then listens with amusement as she takes this as a sign to keep justifying herself and also complain that it’s not <em>her</em> fault her arms aren’t long enough yet to-</p><p>Somewhere between her complaints and making plans for tomorrow, he drifts to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And that’s how Snatcher gets an umbrella and some self-defense lessons. Also, Hat Kid’s a kid – she’s trying, bless her, but she’s not 100% on how to handle PTSD yet, especially a case like Snatcher’s. If you want more of this AU, here's the <a href="https://doodledrawsthings.tumblr.com/post/620140805356666880/oh-the-humanity-au-masterpost">masterpost/</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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